


Snakes, Dragons and Mongooses

by CosmicCthulhu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Head Boy Draco Malfoy, Head Girl Hermione Granger, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Patronus Charm (Harry Potter), Pining Draco Malfoy, Redeemed Draco Malfoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28048962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicCthulhu/pseuds/CosmicCthulhu
Summary: Draco learns how to summon a Patronus. At least it isn’t a ferret.Set after "The Dobhar-chú", but can be read as a stand-alone piece
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 3
Kudos: 94





	Snakes, Dragons and Mongooses

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSLJDne4hTk  
> And also by the fact that mongooses are adorable and funny :)
> 
> English is not my first language, and this work is unbeta'd so all errors are my own.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter franchise.

The sound of whimpers echoed in the dungeon halls of Hogwarts. Malfoy and Hermione were just returning from their potions class when they heard the soft and pitiful sounds that weren’t too uncommon nowadays, in a post-war Hogwarts.

Having a more intimate knowledge of the dungeons, the Head Boy led the way, with the Head Girl trailing behind, to find a crying girl, a first or a second year, by the looks of it, quietly sitting in an isolated corner, with a green and silver scarf wrapped around her neck.

“Hey sprog,” Malfoy started, with a soft voice, though he knew he’d yield no results anyway. The children were too scared of his reputation to actually feel safe or comforted with his presence.

Just as he predicted, the Slytherin girl still shook on her spot, seemingly oblivious to the man kneeled beside her. “Is it the snakes again?” Hermione asked, and the girl looked up, nodding weakly.

It had been an expected consequence of the war. Children, even first years, had been affected by it, as their families had been involved in the conflict one way or another, which resulted in the younger students developing fears and doubts that shouldn’t exist in such young and innocent minds.

Those anxieties were especially hard on the newer Slytherins, that seemed to develop an unified phobia of snakes, and shuddered in fear even by the mere sight of the Slytherin’s symbol drawn on the corridors. It didn’t help that Peeves, in his ever-present need for chaos and devious mischief, started telling horror stories about the reptiles and their powerful venoms and supposed unending appetites.

_‘Hell, even I am bloody scared of these damned beasts'_ Malfoy confessed once to Granger, when they first identified the problem with the snakes. ‘ _Ever since that madman and his vile pet took residence in my house. Can’t even look at a picture without feeling nauseous._ ’

They all knew that returning to the normalcy of studying at Hogwarts wasn’t going to be an easy task. The Headmistress McGonagall knew that the issue of the professors and student’s mental health would come up, which was why she had hired two professional mind healers to help Madam Pomfrey in the Infirmary, specially to care for the professors and older students that were directly involved in the war and battles. It definitely helped a lot, and allowed them to heal some of the psychological scars that they bore, but didn’t quite erase all the anguish and suffering many people had gone through in the previous years.

The sobbing girl instinctively approached Granger, as if trusting the brunette witch to banish away the evil snakes and the infamous dragon that had approached her first.

The Gryffindor promptly drew her wand, and with a flick of the wood and a loud call to summon her patronus, a wispy white-blue otter appeared, twirling and dancing through the air, beckoning for the attention of the crying child, that now observed with admiration the magical animal. 

Malfoy breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed the tears had subsided, and even managed to smile when he heard the light giggle that the young Slytherin had emitted after watching the otter attempt a cart wheel in the air. 

Soon, the patronus dissipated from the air, but the child had already calmed down enough, having seemingly forgotten the snakes that decorated the halls of the dungeons. Hermione smiled and promised the eleven year old that one day, she’d teach her how to cast her own patronus.

“Thanks for the help, Granger,” Draco mumbled, looking at the floor, after the Slytherin child had gone her own way back to the dormitories. “If it weren’t for you, that kid would be still screaming her heart out.”

“Hey, that’s our job as Heads, right?”

“Yeah,” The man sighed. “Too bad the kids are as scared of me as they are scared of the snakes.”

“That’s not true, Malfoy,” Hermione tried to lessen his self-deprecating behavior. “Everyone knows you work just as hard as anyone else to make this school year easier.”

“Yes, I do, but it’s also not what I said,” he chuckled. “You’re not dumb, Granger. The first years literally tremble in fear when I show up at breakfast. I can’t comfort people if they think I’m going to harm them.”

They had already started their way up to the Head’s dormitories, having finished their classes and study sessions for the day.

“We can make you seem harmless, if you’d like.”

“Oh? How so?”

With a sly grin, Hermione abruptly turned to the wizard, and at a distance, summoned a snake with the _Serpensortia_ spell, which earned her an undignified screech from the blonde by her side. Immediately, she followed with the conjuring of her otter Patronus.

Malfoy had felt his heart clench in fear and dismay when he saw the cobra being formed by the girl’s spell. ‘ _The crazy witch is trying to kill me! This is her revenge for my stunt back at the Duelling Club years ago_ ’ He thought bitterly, as he muffled ( _unsuccessfully_ ) a startled scream. 

However, when he saw the wispy otter that danced around him, his sudden anguish settled down to a slight discomfort. He couldn’t quite explain why watching the fantasmagorical creature could calm him so much to the point of ignoring his phobia, but he was thankful for it.

With a chuckle, and a slight pat on the wizard’s shoulder, Hermione vanished the snake, and dismissed her patronus. Malfoy looked at her with confusion and a bit of irritation, but she soon explained.

“I found out that the Patronus Charm is very useful for a lot of things, not just to keep Dementors at bay,” Hermione said with a smile, after they entered the common room of their private quarters.

Malfoy said nothing in response, still startled by the snake, but also because he knew the muggleborn was probably going to continue her line of thought. Merlin knew how much he adored listening to the witch talk about her academic research, even if this particular topic wasn’t pleasant for him, nor her method of proving a point.

“To see a corporeal Patronus,” she continued in her usual lecturing tone. “It has a calming effect on the mind, it’s as if the person witnessing the charm knows that the magic has protective properties. Even children that have never seen a patronus before feel safe. Some muggles would say that it’s like a guardian angel.”

“Interesting,” Malfoy muttered to himself, with a nervous twitch of his lips. He was already predicting the way the conversation would develop.

“What’s your patronus?” Hermione asked, but soon frowned when the wizard grimaced. “Have you ever tried casting one?”

“I’ve never tried, no,” Draco said after a long pause. 

“And I’m pretty sure I can’t cast it anyway,” he stated with a half-hearted shrug, as he pointed to his left arm, concealed by the robes. Hermione didn’t need to look at it to know that it bore the faded Dark Mark.

“You don’t need me to tell you that this mark does not define who you are,” she said it with a soft, but confident tone. “You’re not a dark wizard.”

“And yet, I am marked.”

“So was Snape, but he could cast a patronus all the same!” 

“Look, Granger,” he sighed and shook his head in irritation. “The Patronus charm is a spell difficult enough even without the emotional baggage!”

“Difficult to learn, but not impossible!”

“I’ll just find another way to calm the children down. Maybe let them whack me with a stick or change the Slytherin symbol to a bunny rabbit.” 

“As adorable and funny as it would be to see your house symbol change to a lagomorph, I still think you ought to try, Malfoy!” Hermione raised her chin, trying to match his height, but not quite reaching his eyes.

“Why are you insisting so much?!”

“Why are you rejecting so much?!”

“I’m not going to waste time and energy on something that might not even work!”

“But if you don’t even try, how are you sure it won’t work? Think of the children, Malfoy!” She said with a tremble in her voice that Draco was 90% sure it was faked and deliberately crafted to tug at his heart strings. Yet he still couldn’t quite ignore, much to his dismay. 

That, coupled with the large and adorable puppy-eyes she was making, the almost imperceptible pout on her lips, and with her hands joined together in a praying motion towards him made the brooding wizard cave to her desires.

“Oh, for Sweet Salazar’s sake, FINE!” He said, throwing his hands up.

“That’s the spirit!” She said with a giggle. “We can start working on it tomorrow, after classes!”

“But let me warn you, if my Patronus ends up being a ferret, I will force you into a secrecy oath!”

\-----

When the next day arrived, the two students went about their classes as normal. Hermione enthusiastically reviewed her own notes about the Patronus charm in her free periods, eager to have a chance to try out her methods of teaching, and even more eager to prove to Malfoy himself that he was ultimately a good person. 

Draco, however, was dragging his feet all day. He didn’t want to have to face the fact that his past and the mark that branded him had sullied his chances of redemption. 

When his last class for the day ended, and his duties as Head Boy were completed, Malfoy entered the Head’s common room, and came across Hermione, already prepared to begin the lessons. “Well then, let’s get started!”

In the first few minutes, both Malfoy and Granger had just reviewed what they both knew about the nature of the Patronus charm, and the theory behind the conditions that the caster needed to meet to be able to summon it. 

“I’m sure you can think of your happiest memory!” She said with confidence.

“I can’t, Granger!” Draco snarked, still unwilling to face the possibilities of failure.

“You can certainly try, at least!”

With an irritated hum, he closed his eyes, and thought about his mother. The way she smiled and reached to hug him when, after every holiday break he’d run to her to tell her everything he’d done during the school months. He tried to cast the spell, but nothing came of it.

He swallowed a guilty lump that formed in his throat. As he quickly remembered that often, during the holiday breaks, he’d rant and complain about the _‘poor idiots and whiny mudbloods he had to share classes with._ ’ These memories only brought him shame, not happiness.

Other memories resurfaced. Most were about his childhood. The first day he flew on a broom, or the first time he did magic with intent, that wasn’t accidental, on the grounds of Malfoy Manor. Memories of parties and gatherings in which his friends would show up to explore the estate and all the secret passages together. 

All these memories were tainted by the war, however. By the fact that Voldemort had taken residence at the Manor, had killed and tortured people there. Malfoy shuddered in fear, as he remembered Nagini, slithering and crawling on his dinner table, devouring her prey right in front of him.

“The first kiss is a popular memory subject for a patronus,” Hermione advised absentmindedly, interrupting Draco’s terrifying thoughts. The man, however, frowned in response.

“Can’t see the reason why. My first kiss was a sloppy mess with Pansy Parkinson, and I’d rather bash my head against a wall than repeat _that_ performance.”

“Then let’s try something more recent? Maybe a memory from after the war was over?”

Malfoy tried again, closing his eyes, he pictured the events of a few weeks prior. Watching Hermione bust into the door, with a wide smile and gleaming eyes, claiming she was now an animagus, then her tiny otter form cradled snugly in his arms, seeking refuge from a threat in the Lake, and finally, the most amusing ( _and frankly adorable_ ) scene of the muggleborn witch trying to not break an Irish faery heart. 

He lifted his wand, and called out for the charm. A stronger pulse of light showed, and grew and filled the witch and the wizard with hope that maybe they had done it. But just as quickly as the light grew, it also immediately diminished, not quite taking a hold of the proper casting. Malfoy grumbled under his breath, in frustration.

“This was good, Malfoy. Much better than the previous attempts!” Hermione gave him an encouraging smile. “What was the memory you used?”

Draco smirked, but gave an uncommitted shrug. “Just remembered how funny it was to watch you reject the advances of an otter monster,” Not the entire truth, but enough to garner a response from the beautiful witch by his side.

“Of course!” Hermione laughed, and batted his arm with a playful smirk. “You’re awful! Let’s give it another shot then, maybe something less embarrassing!”

They tried again, for more than an hour, in fact, but still produced no satisfactory results. By the end of the night, Malfoy was exhausted and frustrated. No matter what memory he used, they seemed useless, tainted, or dull, in face of his much darker and shameful past.

“Maybe I’m broken?” Malfoy said with a chuckle, but Hermione knew he was probably feeling miserable. “I told you, Granger, I knew it wouldn’t work.”

“Malfoy…” She started, approaching him, wanting to hug him like she normally would do it with any of her other friends, but she knew the Head Boy wasn’t very comfortable with casual touches. “Draco, please don’t think of yourself as ‘broken’! There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“I beg to differ.” 

“I mean, it, Draco,” she interrupted him, and tentatively placed an arm around his shoulder, making the blond wizard sigh in defeat, wrapping his arms around her, bringing her closer, as she settled by his side. “You’re a good man, I promise.”

“Maybe we should try another day?” She finally said, with her brows knitted together. 

Malfoy looked at her. He was disappointed with himself. He wanted it to work so badly. To show Granger that she was right about him, that he was indeed a good person. Hell, he wanted it to work to see for himself that he had changed!

“Just one more try,” he said, making the muggleborn look at him, surprised.

He decided to change his tactic, to not go with the textbook definition of what happiness was.

For one more time, he closed his mercurial eyes, not really bothering with trying to scour his brain for more possible happy memories, he allowed himself to clear his own mind, to think of nothing in particular, and try to let the Patronus come to him naturally. 

A memory popped in his head. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant one, but the pureblood had decided to trust his own instincts, and muttered, in a low voice, and with more confidence than he actually felt, the incantation for the charm.

His wand glowed, a shape forming right in front of him and the witch beside him. Their eyes widened, enchanted and baffled by the sight of the pale, silvery light coming out of his wand twisting and morphing into an animal.

A fully corporeal Patronus had been formed by Draco Malfoy. The two students sitting at the Heads dormitories smiled, looking at the animal form itself, a small looking mammal, that they couldn’t quite identify just yet. 

And then, the animal started screaming.

Really loudly.

A hoarse, high-pitched scream that could rival that of a banshee. And the small creature just wouldn’t stop, either. With a raised head, open mouth, baring teeth right into the two bewildered students, that remained in a stunned silence.

After a minute or so of non-stop screaming, Hermione couldn’t stop herself from snickering. Draco shot her a scornful glare, which only reinforced the witch’s bout of laughter.

“This isn’t funny, Granger!” He bit, having to raise his voice to power over the screaming animal screeches.

“It’s hilarious, actually.”

“Unbelievable! Of course my patronus would be a heinous creature!” He snarked, which made the brunette laugh even more, tears of mirth escaping her eyes. “I have no idea what this thing is, either! Some kind of... Ferret dog?”

“It’s a mongoose!” Hermione said in between her chuckling. “An Egyptian mongoose, I’d say.”

“How wonderful,” Draco deadpanned. “I didn’t even know a Patronus could just scream for an indefinite amount of time! It has been almost five minutes and this thing isn’t stopping!”

“I think it’s very fitting, actually,” Hermione mused.

“Why? Because I, too, scream and whine for an indefinite amount of time?”

“Because the myths say that the mongooses are the natural enemy of snakes…” She said, and pondered for a bit before continuing. “And dragons, too.”

“Ah, so I got the best representation of my own self-sabotage. Very fitting indeed.”

“That’s not what I meant! It’s just that the reason you’re trying to cast a patronus is because the children of your house are all scared of snakes, and allegedly scared of you, Draco.” She huffed, but continued with a kinder smile. 

“And you said it yourself you have ophidiophobia. So the protective magic must have read into your need to protect yourself and the little ones of the snakes and monsters of the castle!”

Malfoy sniffed in disgruntlement, but Hermione could see the relieved smile forming in his face, letting himself get used to this new fiery and spirited animal he wasn’t even aware existed before. 

“Mongooses are very dignified creatures, if you must know,” Hermione continued, with a more light hearted tone, as she watched the wispy creature dissolve in the air, and allow the silence to settle back into the room. “They are very courageous. They will even threaten a pride of lions to protect their young and their nests.”

“How do you even know all this?”

“In that mythology bestiary, that we read a couple of weeks ago, to find out about the Dobhar-chú. There were some texts about an Ichneumon, a mongoose, basically.”

Malfoy chuckled. He already knew her answer would be related to a book, but he was still delighted to hear how predictable, and reliable Granger could be.

“What was the memory you used?” Hermione asked quietly. “You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to, or if it’s uncomfortable.”

Malfoy sighed, and peered into the witch’s eyes, fascinated by the warm earthy tone with golden specks. 

“Watching Neville decapitating that blasted snake,” He said quietly. “I can’t say I was… happy, but I was definitely relieved. To know that that monster was dead, and that her master was soon going to meet his own demise. To see that people weren’t going to give up without a fight, even if they didn’t have much reason to hope.”

Hermione managed to smile. She grabbed his left hand and squeezed it, in a comforting manner. She sighed and grinned when the man squeezed her hand back.

“See?” She said, in a lighter tone. “A mongoose is totally fitting to be your patronus.”

He laughed.

\-----

The next morning, as they descended to the Great Hall, both Heads were greeted with the sight of a group of nervous and antsy Slytherins first years. Before Hermione could even think of pulling out her wand, Malfoy was already conjuring his own Patronus, surprising the older students in the vicinity.

An angry looking mongoose promptly showed itself, screaming at the top of its tiny lungs, hurling itself into the image of a snake adorning the corridor of the school. The children laughed and smiled, fascinated by the patronus.

The other eighth year students acknowledged the Slytherin, recognizing that his patronus was an assurance that he had changed, that his past could be left behind. 

Hermione and Draco continued their way into the breakfast table, still talking about the bravery of mongooses.


End file.
